Felted metal wool



Sept. 8,1964 M O .L J HNSON 3,148,105

Filed Se t. 18, 1

' Ill" Nu. Q I

INVEN TOR. MYRON L. JOHNSON ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,148,105 FELTED IVETAL WOOL Myron L. Johnson, Springfield, Ohio, assignor to International Steel Wool Corporation, Springfield, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Sept. 18, 1961, Ser. No. 138,743 8 Claims. (Ell. 16159) The invention disclosed and claimed in this application relates to metallic pads made from metallic strands and to methods of forming such pads. Such metallic pads are used for a variety of purposes including pads for cushioning, pads for filters, pads for cleaning, bufiing and finishing, pads for sound deadening, pads for space filling and many other purposes. My invention applies to all types of such metallic pads. However, for the purpose of illustration, my invention is illustrated herein by a metallic pad for cleaning, bufiing and finishing, such pad being formed according to my invention, and by apparatus for forming such a pad according to the methods of my invention.

Metal pads are in general use for a variety of purposes including such uses as cleaning, bufiing, finishing, filtering, sound insulation, etc. It has, however, often been considered necessary or desirable to reinforce many pads used for cushioning, bufiing and cleaning purposes by weaving, stitching, welding or adhering by resin etc. or by the use of wire, string or clips in order to maintain the shape and resilience of such pads.

On the other hand, in other fields of use many materials are made by a felting process. Many felts of animal, vegetable and synthetic fibers are customarily made by (a) chopping the fibers into short lengths, (b) form ing them into a loose blanket by passing the fibers through a garnetting (distributing) machine, and (c) passing these blankets through a needle loom which interweaves the fibers by passing through the blanket a multiplicity of felting needles. Felting needles have jagged barbs or teeth such that when they are forced through a blanket like one of those described above, they push some of the short top fibers down through the lower ones so that these displaced fibers bind the upper layers with the ones below it. (Sometimes a web of open fabric such as burlap is inserted between two such blankets.) Then because such a needle uses the fishhook principle in reverse, it is drawn from the compacted (i.e. felted) material with relative ease and without disturbing the binding.

To the best of our knowledge, no one is making or has made, a felt of metallic fibers prior to our invention. No one is at the present time making commercially a felt of metallic fibers. We have had metallic fibers felted by a conventional loom and the results thereof were most successful and encouraging. The blankets which we supplied for felting (in contrast with those which are usually fed into a needle loom) were not made of short fibers. Instead, some of them were made (by the method covered by Seelenbinder Patent 2,981,016) of continuous ribbons of metallic wool. We also took blankets manufactured by the Seelenbinder process and cut these into smaller rectangular blankets which We felted in the same way in a conventional loom. In our felted blankets with the use of continuous strands of metallic wool rather than short lengths, we have the obvious advantage of greater strength. With short lengths the strength of the resulting felt depends largely upon, how completely the fibers are intertwined. With long continuous lengths there is the added factor of the strength of the metallic wool itself. While we have described the pads above as being made of metallic wool generally and at times hereinafter specifically may refer to them as being made of steel wool fibers, yet it is to be understood that they can be made of any type of metal fibers such as for example, without limitation, steel wool, stainless steel wool, copper wool, brass wool, aluminum wool, etc.

One object of my invention is the provision of a new and improved form of metallic pad.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a new method of forming such metallic pads.

A further object of my invention is the provision of an improved form of pad which will be highly resilient and porous and will not be subject to rapid deterioration by heat, pressure, or otherwise.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a metal pad which can be formed simply and cheaply, but which will retain both its shape and resiliency for long periods of time.

A further more specific object is to provide an improved form of metallic cushion or pad which is highly resilient, of high efficiency and durability, is cheap in construction, is highly resistant to heat and other deteriorating influences, and which is relatively fiat on its top and bottom surfaces.

Other objects, features and advantages of my invention will appear from the following description and claims and from the accompanying drawings illustrating specific embodiments of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a more or less diagrammatic view illustrating the felting process by which the layers of metallic strands are felted together;

FIG. 2 is a view in plan of a fragment of a pad constructed according to my invention;

FIG. 3 is a view in vertical section taken substantially on the line 33 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a view in perspective of the pad of FIG. 1 which is being constructed according to my invention, but having an unfelted portion of one layer rolled back in order to show more clearly the construction of the pad.

Referring specifically to the drawings it may be seen that I have shown in FIG. 1 a pad of metallic fibers in the process of being felted together with a felting apparatus positioned above the pad and operating to felt the several layers of the pad together; Therein I have shown a pad 11 consisting of layers 12, 13 and 14 being felted by a felting apparatus 15. The felting apparatus includes a head 16, felting needles 17 and 18, a fixed perforated stamping plate 19, and a perforated fixed base plate 21. The head 16 is reciprocated upward and downward with the result that the felting needles 17 and 18 pierce the pad 11. Inasmuch as the barbs of the needles are arranged and formed opposite to the manner in which the barbs on a fishhook are formed, they will, in their downward travel, pick up strands from the layer 14 and carry those strands through the layers 12 and 13 and also pick up strands from the layer 13 and carry those strands through the layer 12. On the return of those needles through the pad 11, the barbs cause no interference and the strands which have been pushed downward through the layers 12 and 13 remain imbedded in the layers 12 and 13 with a result that the layers of the pad are firmly secured together by strands which have been pushed downward through the lower layers. This is the well-known felting process which has been applied to other types of material, but has not been applied, so far as I know, to metal fibers, nor has it been applied to metal, or so far as I know, to other fibers in which the strands are continuous, throughout the length and breadth of the pad.

As previously stated, in the usual felting process the fibers are chopped into short lengths and then are garnetted so that they extend in many random directions. It is to be understood that in my structure the strands in layer 12 extend substantially continuously lengthwise of the pad 11. The strands in layer 13 extend crosswise oi the pad and the strands in layer 14 of the pad extend lengthwise of the pad. Of course, the strands in layer 12 could extend crosswise and the strands in layer 13 could extend lengthwise and the strands in layer 14 again crosswise. As suggested above, one excellent method of so positioning the layers relative to each other is by the process described in Seelenbinder Patent 2,981,016 and thereafter cutting the pad so formed into smaller pads of convenient or desired dimensions. Or the pad could be made up of two layers or of more than three layers in which case the strands of the adjacent layers would always extend in a direction crosswise to the strands of any one layer. Obviously the strands of the intermediate layer could run lengthwise while the strands of the outer layers could run crosswise.

It is to be understood that the above described embodiments of my invention are for the purpose of illustration only and various changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

1 claim:

1. A pad having a length and a breadth and consisting of a plurality of layers of metallic strands secured together, substantially all of the strands of each layer extending substantially continuously in one direction, the most of the strands of at least one layer extending parallel to the breadth of the pad, and the most of the strands of at least another layer extending parallel to the length of the pad; in combination with means for securing the layers together consisting of a portion of a substantial number of strands of one layer, drawn and deflected from the interior of said layer through the entire thickness of an adjacent layer and to the opposite surface of such adjacent layer.

2. A pad having a length and a. breadth and consisting of a plurality of layers of metallic strands secured together, the most of the strands of each layer extending substantially in one direction, and the most of the strands of each layer extending in a direction substantially 90 from the direction of the strands of the next adjacent layer; in combination with means for securing the layers together consisting of a portion of a substantial number of strands of one layer drawn from the interior of said layer through the entire thickness of an adjacent layer and to the opposite surface of such adjacent layer.

3. A pad having a length and a breadth and consist ing of three layers of metallic strands secured together, most of the strands of each layer extending substantially in one direction throughout the layer, the direction of the most of the strands of the intermediate layer being perpendicular to the direction of the strands of the outer layers; in combination with means for securing the layers together consisting of a substantial number of portions of strands of one outermost layer drawn from the interior of said layer through the entire thickness of the intermediate layer and through the entire thickness of the other outermost layer and to the outer surface of such other outermost layer.

4. The structure of claim 3 in which direction of the strands of the intermediate layer is crosswise of the pad and in which the direction of the strands of the outer layers is lengthwise of the pad.

5. The structure of claim 1 in which the material of the strands is steel wool.

6. The structure of claim 1 in which the material is stainless steel wool.

7. The structure of claim 1 in which the material is aluminum wool.

8. The structure of claim 1 in which the material is bronze wool.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,860,090 Fowler May 24, 1932 1,978,620 Brewster Oct. 30, 1934 2,192,590 Seelenbinder Mar. 5, 1940 2,593,373 Weber Apr. 15, 1952 2,981,016 Seelenbinder Apr. 25, 1961 

1. A PAD HAVING A LENGTH AND A BREADTH AND CONSISTING OF A PLURALITY OF LAYERS OF METALLIC STRANDS SECURED TOGETHER, SUBSTANTIALLY ALL OF THE STRANDS OF EACH LAYER EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY CONTINUOUSLY IN ONE DIRECTION, THE MOST OF THE STRANDS OF AT LEAST ONE LAYER EXTENDING PARALLEL TO THE BREADTH OF THE PAD, AND THE MOST OF THE STRANDS OF AT LEAST ANOTHER LAYER EXTENDING PARALLEL TO THE LENGTH OF THE PAD; IN COMBINATION WITH MEANS FOR SECURING THE LAYERS TOGETHER CONSISTING OF A PORTION OF A SUBSTANTIAL NUMBER OF STRANDS OF ONE LAYER, DRAWN AND DEFLECTED FROM THE INTERIOR OF SAID LAYER THROUGH THE ENTIRE THICKNESS OF AN ADJACENT LAYER AND TO THE OPPOSITE SURFACE OF SUCH ADJACENT LAYER. 